410 THE BIRDS OF YORKSHIRE. 



Ridings, and is associated in the minds of Yorkshire ornith- 

 ologists with the days when the Bittern's " boom " was no 

 uncommon sound, and the Spoonbill and other species (now 

 extinct as nesters), were to be found in the county. The 

 first mention of this species nesting in Yorkshire is found in 

 a communication from the celebrated Dr. Martin Lister of 

 York, a friend and correspondent of John Ray, who described 

 what he supposed to be the Grey Lag, and stated that it was 

 found " nesting in the marshes of the county of York." His 

 account as to its nesting is as follows : — In paludibus agri 

 Eboracensis nidificant : ipsi & eorum Pnlli mense Maio 

 pinguescunt & in deliciis habentur" ("Syn. Meth. Av." 1713, 

 p. 138.) (Although there is no doubt it was the Grey Lag 

 which formerly bred in the Carrs, Dr. Lister's description 

 applies to the Pink-footed Goose, which see for further details, 

 p. 416.) 



In Hatfield's " Historical Notices of Doncaster " (1866, p. 

 23), it is stated that " the Grey Lag formerly visited the deco}' 

 at Potteric Carr in immense multitudes " ; Arthur Strickland 

 (in Allis's Report) also referred to it ; and Charles Waterton, 

 in 1840, mentioned it as not uncommon at Walton Park ; but, 

 owing to improvements in drainage, increase of population, 

 and the advance of civilization, it has long since been banished, 

 and this fine bird is now but a casual visitant to its ancient 

 haunts. 



In the autumn and winter long skeins of " Grey Geese " 

 may be seen passing over different parts of the count}^ but 

 it is impossible to determine the exact species without examina- 

 tion of specimens, and, though it is probable that many of these 

 reported Grey Geese may be veritable Grey Lags, we can only 

 deal with the individuals whose identity has been actually 

 verified. 



Its distribution is of a very uncertain cha.racter, and the 

 bird now chiefly occurs in the neighbourhood of sheets of 

 v/ater as at Fewston, Malham, on the rivers Nidd and Wharf e, 

 at Masham (where the late James Carter shot two several 

 years ago), and similar localities. It is rare in East Yorkshire ; 

 Mr. M. Bailey has informed me that one Good Friday, many 



